Families belonging to each other in Beloved
One of the most commonly recurring phrases in our reading for Thursday from Beloved was "she is mine," or some variation of it. This was used primarily about Beloved the character, but also in reference to Sethe. At first, I found this phrase confusing and did not understand why it was used so many times. However, during the section from Paul D's perspective, there was a passage that sort of clarified it for me. The passage is about family and the way that he views people's families because he wasn't raised in one. It says, "he made them identify over and over who each [person] was, what relation, who in fact, belonged to who." (258)
The way that Paul D talks about belonging here made the repetition in the earlier chapters of the phrase "she is mine" make more sense to me. These characters need to affirm that they belong to each other, and therefore that they belong to the family. When Sethe asserts that Beloved is hers, she is reaffirming not just the idea that Beloved is her child, but also that there is nothing anyone can do to take Beloved away from her. They are family, they belong to each other. Denver does something similar, but her assertion has a different kind of edge to it. Denver's chapter is about the way that she feels protective of Beloved, and also the ways that she feels scared of her mother. It's not that Denver dislikes her mother, but she does fear her. Because of this, Denver's claim that Beloved is hers is aligning herself with a new, different, family unit. This one also includes Halle, who she references many times throughout her chapter despite the fact that she has never met him. She claims that Beloved is, "my sister come to help me wait for my daddy." (247)
The use of the phrase directly following Denver's use is Beloved's herself, and it is in the very confusing chapter that has no punctuation and lots of strange spacing. There's definitely a lot to unpack about this chapter and I understood very little of it, but I do think it's interesting that the chapter starts with the phrase "I am Beloved and she is mine." (248) I went back and forth about whether Beloved is talking about herself and claiming that no one else has a claim on her, or whether she was referring to Sethe, as it seems that she is sometimes in this chapter. This is definitely the use I am the most unclear on and I would be very interested to see what you all think she might mean here.
You make a really great point! Family is clearly a really important theme throughout this book, especially evident in the way Sethe's role as a mother plays heavily into the plot. We can also see this theme in Baby Suggs when she expresses her desire to unite with her children when she finds freedom. I agree that although Beloved's chapter is very cryptic, the recurring theme of her claiming Sethe as belonging to her seems to be the most important thing for readers to understand, because it is the most evident thought going through her head.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I like how you explore Beloved's toxic and mystifying possessiveness ("she's mine"), Paul D's sense of family, and Denver's jumbled emotions together to follow a theme of family. Sethe is truly at the center of so many of these connections; with all three other characters all fighting over her at certain points in the book.
ReplyDeleteHey Rowan, it's so interesting to me that you caught that line, I never would have thought to relate it back to Beloved's monologue about how Sethe is "hers." I definitely agree with your interpretation that this idea of belonging to one another rather than their slaveowners is important to each of the characters. Maybe the "I am Beloved and she is mine" line is referring to her name, in that she is truly loved by HER mother? I'm not exactly sure. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThis is very cool, I didn't think about this line very much after I read it, but when I did I saw it in a different way. "She is mine" to me seemed mostly spoken by Beloved, to display that she feels Sethe owes her something for what she did. I'm not really sure!
ReplyDeleteWow this is very interesting. Especially since Beloved died originally and then came back to Sethe, it makes sense why she would say that. I also think that what you said about the fact that everything was so unstable at Sweethome and you really couldn't be sure if you'd ever see your family again, it's so important to keep your family close.
ReplyDeleteHey Rowan, great post! Family is a very prevalent theme in Beloved, and in a way, all of the main characters' lives revolve around it. Sethe is devoted to her family and would do anything to make sure they stay hers, Denver craves a "complete" family, shown by her waiting for her father to come back, despite never meeting him. Paul D, who, as you said, has never had a family as his own, craves familial intimacy and boundaries, but is also initially unable to understand the extent of Sethe's maternal love for her children, and therefore judges her for the death of Beloved. I really like the points you make her, great job!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking here of Toni Morrison talking about Sethe and _Beloved_ in the movie (which I've just finished watching for the second time in two days), when she paraphrases Sethe's perspective as "These children are *mine*. I can do with them whatever I want." Obviously, that's a sentiment that in the general sense wouldn't withstand scrutiny, as indeed a parent is not and should not be able to do "whatever they want" to a child, but Sethe/Morrison's point is more basic: in THIS situation, the children are DEFINITELY more "hers" than *schoolteacher's*, and THAT is the point. The institution and practice of slavery makes it impossible for a parent to truly protect and care for their children (remember the moment when Halle refers to "before the children are grown" and Sethe has the epiphany that her family is never fully "hers" at Sweet Home). This desire to be and *remain* a family is central to the entire escape plan, which again, is unusual in the large number of people trying to get out together. Sethe and Halle have the relatively rare experience of starting a family under slavery, and Sethe's sense of those familial bonds is maybe the strongest of any parent in any novel that exists anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a compelling blog post and excellent analysis of one of the most confusing aspects of the characters’ dynamics to me as well: the use of “mine” and the extreme possession that one character feels over the other. Perhaps it is caused by the fear of family being torn apart again, as it already had been in the past, representing a further impact of the trauma on the present. I love the idea that you analyze, however, that the “mine” is used to show who aligns with who in family dynamics, particularly the passage with Denver, and how you show super well that she feels attached to Beloved (Beloved is “hers”) and is wanting to wait for “[her] daddy.” I found it so interesting that Sethe is completely left out of this picture in Denver’s mind. It also interested me that in the end, although Denver breaks away from 124, she wants to protect or help Sethe in the end and still wants her to be part of her family, even though fearing her and feeling clearly detached from Sethe before.
ReplyDeleteYour end paragraph stood out to me so much as well-- I thought that your interpretation of the word “she” and how it could mean different things was super, super cool. I hadn't thought about this before!
At first, while reading, I thought that “she” was as referring to Sethe, as this association and meaning would seem to connect with the rest of the chapter and Beloved’s “obsession” with Sethe. However, I also found the interpretation of the “she’ meaning Beloved herself very compelling and shows me a whole new way to think about the family and “mine” dynamics and the dynamics in this entire chapter. Perhaps Beloved is actually talking about herself, which would mean that each family member has a claim on Beloved. Beloved belongs to Sethe, Beloved belongs to Denver, but Beloved thinks that she belongs to herself. This is a really interesting idea and would fit in with an even more complex and tense set of family dynamics.
Oh gosh haha I’m so sorry, didn’t realize this went on for so long! Thank you for the great and super interesting post, it really made me think about this scene again and opened my eyes to new and clearer interpretations and ideas!
I think ownership in general is an extremely important aspect of the book. Of property, of freedom, of your own body and of your family members. After so much theft via slavery, ownership is almost a form of correctional therapy for some of these characters
ReplyDeleteYou make so many interesting points here! Beloved offers both of what Sethe and Denver crave—loyalty from loved ones and a complete family, respectively. As a result, Beloved is (literally) beloved and wanted by Sethe and Denver, and could thus complete both the Sethe-Paul or Denver-Halle "families". She strives for Sethe's love, but has more self-autonomy to choose which people she wants to be with and what she wants to do, so in this way she is hers.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that Beloved says "she is mine" instead of "Sethe is mine" or someone else shows that her idea of Sethe isn't super concrete. When she talks about her time in the other world, she talks about a woman leaving her. We presume this woman is Sethe, but I feel like we don't know for sure. I don't think the woman being Sethe or not is particularly important to Beloved, she just needs someone to make pay for leaving her.
ReplyDeleteok my point devolved a little at the end. I'm not sure what I was trying to say. Most of my point lies in that I don't believe Beloved really understands Sethe as Sethe. She is just a woman and Beloved knows that a woman abandoned her.
DeleteThis is a really interesting post, I like it a lot! Family definitely does take on a very possessive edge to it in the novel, even to the point of becoming extremely unhealthy. What stands out to me is the almost-family we saw forming between Paul D, Sethe, and Denver, because it didn't seem as possessive as the other instances of family we see throughout the novel. Maybe it's a sign that it's a healthier form of family, or maybe that's why their attempt to be a family failed, I don't know, but it's interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteI think that family and belonging are really important to the African-American community because they were things that were stolen from us. In Baby Sugg's passage, she is confused about who she is and where she belongs. She wonders about her sister, her mother, and herself. Once they were freed, they clung onto the things that made them human and to which they truly belonged. I think that choosing and asserting who you belong to is a way of counteracting being told who you belong to. If you're always categorized and defined by who you belong to, it would make sense that once you were allowed to do that on your own you'd assert that you belonged to your family. I also thing it adds context to the scenes that you talk about later in your post. Beloved, Sethe, and Denver become one and they continue to assert that they belong to each other and even become each other. I think this scene largely symbolizes that the trauma, past, and future will always be linked but it can also be interpreted as them claiming each other. I have no idea what Beloved means when she says "and she is mine" but I think either way this idea of claiming your family is important. Even Beloved's name is a way of claiming her in a way. Anyways, I kind of rambled on but great post! I always enjoy reading them!
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